Study on Child Poverty and Child Well-Being in the EU

9 Dicembre 2011/

Children are an especially vulnerable group because of their dependent status and because they can only partly influence their own well-being. They are also our future: lack of opportunities during childhood all too often will have long-term consequences for the individuals concerned and for society as a whole. Swift action will instead pay off now as well as bear fruit in the years to come by breaking the vicious cycle of the inter-generational transmission of poverty.

Combating child poverty and improving child well-being have therefore become key issues on the policy agenda of the EU and Members States. Following the work carried out in 2007 and 2008 by the European Commission and the Member States in the context of the European Strategy for Social Inclusion, notably the report prepared by the EU Task-Force on Child Poverty and Child Well-Being, a new study has been launched this year to contribute to the development of more coherent and integrated policies in this area. The study was carried out by TÁRKI Social Research Institute(Budapest), in collaboration with Applica (Brussels).

The main aim of the report was to:

identify the main determinants of child poverty and social exclusion in Europe and across the Member States;

provide an overview and assess the effectiveness of existing policies on income support and access to the labour market and enabling services of parents;

define a reduced set of indicators which best reflect the multi-dimensional nature of child well-being, suitable for monitoring policies aimed at reducing child poverty, enhancing the welfare of children and improving their life-chances.

This publication is supported under the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). more…

The information contained in the study does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.